Blood Night
by Moon's-Wing
Summary: A collection of one shots featuring a sarcastic male blood elf mage, Rugio, and more serious female night elf druid, Nedjem, that have somehow befriended one another.
1. Blood Night

Walking down the road between Forest Song and Splintertree Post, I spotted a man with pale skin, red hair, and long ears. The inverse of my own kind; a blood elf. Why was he here? I shifted from cat to night elf to speak.

"Surprised?" he asks.

"I know sometimes your kind sneaks into our lands. What is your purpose here?"

He shrugs. "Exploring."

"That is all?"

"Yes. If you still wish to fight, so be it."

"I do not enjoy fighting, but I will when needed."

"What's your name?" he asks.

"Why would you want to know that?"

"I like knowing who I'm talking to."

I eye him warily, but reply, "Nedjem, I am a druid of Darnassus."

"Rugio," he replies with a small bow. "I am a mage of Silvermoon."

&

&

That seems so long ago. It has been four months since our first meeting. We've been meeting more and more.

I think we're courting.

That scares me. We could easily find a place to be on our own without much judgement, the neurtral grounds are pretty forgiving with thier opinions. I wouldn't want to leave everything I've built here, though, and I'm sure it would be the same for him.

So we can't possibly be courting.

We have become friendly, and this is the only way we can enjoy one another's company. That's it.

It's got to be. 


	2. Braids

"You changed your hair."

"Don't like it?"

"Pigtails do not suit you."

"They're not pigtails! They're braids!"

"Braided pigtails."

"...I am so full of loathing."

Ruigo grinned cheekily.


	3. Forms

"Travel!"

"Fast kitty."

"It's travel form, Moron!"

"Vroom vroom kitty."

"Travel. Travel, travel!"

"And yet you still purchased a mount."

"..."

"Several, in fact, I believe."

"..."

"Gotcha."

"Is it my fault mounts are faster than me?!?"

"Apparently." 


	4. Origimmar

"You do realize what'll happen when you get caught, right?"

"I'll beat 'em up. Believe it or not, I only told you so you'd be safe from my psycho friends."

"Nedjem-" he'd been obviously far more concerned for her welfare than his own in this matter.

"Bite me, Rugio; I'll be fine."

"You're talking about raiding Origimmar! Freakin' Origimmar! And how often do I go there anyway?"

"With my luck it'd be the rare occasion that you'd be there."

"Now I will be."

"Ruigo, if you help us out in the open... Besides, it's not as if I'll be alone."

"A pet snake is not worth this. I can easily get one for you, you realize."

"It's not just for the pet snake. I am strong enough for this, and I want to help my friends."

He sighed, observing the woman's determined face. "...Fine."

"As if I need your permission."

&

Nedjem panted hard, dealing as much healing as she could to her friends. They were so close, just two more-nope, one more guard... The orc fell, and the group cheered momentarily before continuing. A couple stopped at the pond for fishing, and she took a moment to look around. Then she saw him; the snake vendor. She strode right up to him, reeking of confidence.

"O-Oh my," the troll said. "It's probably best I don't give you any trouble, yes?"

"That would be wise," she assured him. "One of each, if you wouldn't mind."

She'd just finished her transaction when she heard loud, angry yelling- in Orchish. At least, she was pretty sure it was Orchish. The rest of the group heard it too; and abandoned thier fishing to group up once more. She panicked a little; they hadn't fully recovered from the last attack- she'd just have to keep a close eye on her wearying companions.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a bright ball of flame flew into the horde of approaching orcs.

Nedjem knew that spell. It was a mage spell. A mage spell that delt a great deal of damage. She willed herself not to look for Rugio and concentrate at the coming battle.

&

"You helped us," she accused him a couple days later in Booty Bay.

"What are you on about?" Rugio asked, not looking away from his fishing pole.

"In Origimmar," she hissed. "You bloody help-"

"I'm sorry, I think you have me confused with someone else," he replied blandly. "Why would I help a night elf in battle, seriously?"

"Oh, right," she said, folding her arms. "You're stuck up, pompous Silvermoon bloof elf."

"And you're an easy, pampered Darnassus night elf."

"You did not just call me 'easy.'"

"You called me 'stuck up.' Fair game, lady."

"And I am not pampered!"

"Yeah, just like I'm totally not pom-" he started laughing. "Nope, can't even say it with a straight face!"

She sighed, shaking her head while she sat down beside him. "Why do I put up with you again?"

"Hell if I know."


	5. Holiday Fear

Nedjem scowled, folding her arms. Where in the world was he? This was important, dammit! Normally, she could always find him in Booty Bay (damn, did that boy love to fish- he'd won the tornament three times), but even there she hadn't seen hide or hair of him for the past three days. It seemed silly to worry over Rugio, he could more than handle himself, but she couldn't help it. He was her friend, and it was not his habit to vanish for days on end. And there was only one being she could go to to question about his whereabouts.

She'd managed to sneak by him twice unnoticed already- a tauren, by the name of Rugged. Nedjem had heard two different stories about the tauren: that they were loud, britush and barbaric, or that they were a calm, shamanistic race.

Rugged was more on the brutish side, but that was not why the night elf avoided him, nor was it even that he was 'the enemy.' He had a good sense of humor, but was also an awful flirt. And when he wasn't flirting with her, he was insuating something about her and her quarry. So you could see why she didn't want to go to him to inquire about the blood elf. But she took a deep breath and approached him in the inn.

"Gem!" he greeted her warmly. That was the other reason she didn't care for him, the nicknames. "How's the cutest Allied around?"

"I was curious if you knew where Rugio was hiding," she replied as straight-faced as she was able.

"Oh, wow. He's even hiding from you?"

"So he is hiding? Do you know where?"

"Yeah, Rugi's always hiding this time of year. Hmm, if he didn't tell you, I prolly shouldn't either. Aw, hell with it. He wouldn't kill me over it, though it'd be one hell of a duel."

"Rugged? Where's Rugio?"

"I can't say I know exactly where, but I can narrow it down for ya; Desolace."

"Why is he hiding?"

The dark brown tauren blinked at her in astonishment. "Don't you know what time of year it is?"

"...Febuary."

"Besides that."

"Gemmy, you couldn't have missed at the flowery decorations, the hearts everywhere-"

"Oh, that silly festival? He's popular with the girls or something?"

"...Something like that. You know that list of dares that goes around durning every festival?"

"Yes."

"But I'm guessing you've never paid much attention to it."

"That would be accurate."

It was his turn to sigh. "One of those dares is to take a fistful of flowers and cover it over certain race/class combos."

"...And blood elf mage is one of them."

"She gets it. So to avoid constant mouthfuls of rose petals in his face, your boyfriend hides for two weeks every year."

"He's not my boyfriend!" she flushed.

"Not yet."

"Ugh, whatever. Thank you, but I'll take my leave now."

"A'right! Have fun!" he waved to her cheerily.

She landed in Cenarion Wildlands, said hello to a few friends, shifted to her flying travel form, and wondered where to start. It seemed foolish to just randomly fly around, but she didn't really have any other option. 'If I were a whiny, sarcastic blood elf, where would I be?' she thought, absentmindedly looking around. As much as she still didn't like the lack of a plan, she opened wide her wings and took off.

She had been searching close to two hours for him- after three false alarms in the form of campfires- a couple miles south of Shadowprey Village. He saw her coming in close to land.

And ran.

"Kaa-" Nedjem tried to call, but quickly remembered her vocal cords were currently a bird's. Landing and shifting, she tried again. "Rugio? Rugged told me why you're out here; you don't have to worry about that crap with me." There was a pause. "You can search me if you want," she added innocently. "There isn't a single flower petal on me."

Grinning slyly, he came out into view. "I believe you," he said. "But can I search you anyway?"

She rolled her eyes. "Pervert."

"You know I am," he said, going back to the fire with a couple fish cooking on it.

"Yet you're so afraid of a few flowers that you hide in a forest, full of them mind you, during a certain holiday."

"I'm not afraid of them; it just makes my life easier to not have them up my nose."

"Sure," she replied, taking a seat beside him.

"I have allergies- lay off," he admitted lowly.

"Sure."

"I do!"

"Sure."

"Do you want a fish or not?"

"I believe you." Flying was hard work.

"So, milady, are you spending the night or are you just making sure I didn't vanish completely?"

"I hadn't actually thought about it, really. Take down the attitude and I might stay," she replied, taking one of the staked fish from him.

"Sorry, kind of have to this time of year."

"You couldn't have given me a warning? I was worried about you."

He stopped mid-bite. "I didn't think I mattered that much to you."

"You've become a good friend to me," she admitted with a flush. "Why wouldn't I worry?"

"Thought I was just a prideful blood elf."

"You are a prideful blood elf; just not as annoying as most." Rugio laughed. Nedjem noticed something. "You don't have a tent out here? The desert gets cold at night; plus we're by the shore."

"Yeah, double screwed. I lost track of the time and kinda left in a hurry. None of the tradesman in Shadowpery had any to spare, sadly."

Nedjem shook her head. "It's a good thing I saught you out; you would have frozen to death!"

"How are you gonna help? Got a tent in one of those pouches?"

"I don't need a tent, as I have two forms covered in fur."

"Oh, right."

"I usually go cat for the night, but if I'm keeping your sorry butt warm too, I should proabably go bear."

"Ooo, the big guns."

"...Shut up."

A couple hours after nightfall, the night elf noticed that, indeed, her companion had started to shiver. "You are hopeless," she said, standing to shift.

"I'm f-fine."

"Just make sure none of your friends north of us don't gut me in my sleep, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah."

After a few moments, a small light of green magic and black smoke, a very large brown bear stood before him. She yawned, tired herself, and walked around Rugio to block the wind coming in from the sea, then laid down. The male wasted no time burying himself in her warm fur. "You're a good friend," he said.

Nedjem couldn't reply vocally, but she did figure out a way to get her point across. with her big, wet, rough tongue, she licked his face, and none too gently.

"Ugh! Gem, that's cruel!" he cried, wiping his face on his clothes. He swore he saw her smile before she laid her head back down and went to sleep. "Brat," he muttered, but soon joined her in dreamland, still happy he had a friend that cared so much for him, even if she had a sick sense of humor. 


End file.
